On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:19:30 GMT, "Mike" wrote
in 6laak.144$Ae3.138@trnddc05:

As far as the user fees debate goes, someone is going to pay for aviation.
The only question is who that someone is going to be.


It would seem to me, that if the tax to fund ATC were based _solely_
on aviation fuel purchases, only those who fly or ship freight would
be paying it (with the possible exceptions of the military, gliders,
airships, balloons, and aircraft with a MoGas STC). The tax could be
collected from the producer/refiner, so that there are far fewer bills
to manage than if it were levied on a per-ATC-use basis. What could
be more equitable? The ATC tax would be levied against those who use
ATC services commensurate with their usage. Air carrier ticket tax is
not equitable, for example, because a dead-heading airline flight pays
no tax but still uses ATC services.

In any event, I'm happy to hear that Bush's advisors want to apply
user fees to military ATC usage, for that is what is intimated in the
phrase "everyone talking to ATC."